Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain CAVA, which opened its first restaurant in Bethesda in 2011, reports a 49.5% jump in year-over-year quarterly revenue fueled by new location openings across the country.
CAVA opened 11 new restaurants in the third quarter. It now operates 290 restaurants in 24 states and the District, nearly 36% more locations that a year ago, with 95 new openings in the past year.
CAVA posted a third-quarter profit of $6.8 million, with $175.6 million in revenue.
D.C.-based CAVA was founded by three Maryland friends: Dimitri Moshovitis, Tex Xenohristos and Ike Gringoropoloulos, all first-generation Greek Americans. The original CAVA Mezze Grill opened in Rockville in 2006, the concept that expanded to the fast-casual CAVA.
The chain also owns Zoës Kitchen, a chain it acquired in 2018 for $300 million, and has converted many of those restaurants to CAVAs.
Its hummus spreads, tzatziki, sauces and other products are carried in thousands of grocery stores. Two years ago, it invested $30 million in a new processing and packaging facility near Staunton, Virginia to meet its growing retail product demand.
